First published in book form in 1838, Charles Dickens's second novel is a scathing satire indicting child labor and the English Poor Laws. Orphaned at birth and abandoned to the hardships of the workhouse, Oliver Twist lives a gruelling life of poverty. He runs away to start a better life in London but is befriended there by the Artful Dodger, a young pickpocket who introduces him to Fagin and his gang of thieves. Like the other titles in this series of affordable classics, this book has been reset in fresh type and includes a frontispiece illustration and a brief biography of the author.